Network A has been doing an incredible job editing videos of Vaughn Gittin Jr’s Formula D season this year. Here’s another one from Round 3 at Palm Beach. The round was eventually won by Daigo Saito in the Achilles Tires Lexus SC430.
This pit bike mod is really an extension of Chris Harris’s Space Saver Experiment. The theory is that a car that is fast around a track isn’t necessarily fun. How fun a car is depends on its power to grip ratio. Basically it’s more fun if it’s easy to kick the back end out. These guys replaced the rear tire of their tiny pit bike with plastic tricycle wheels and round about drift madness ensues.
**NSFW WARNING** The Papa Roach soundtrack has a couple of bad words.
The Boxster has always had a strange place in the Porsche lineup. It was introduced as an entry level model in 1996 to attract new buyers to the brand. Porsche decided to design it with a mid engine layout instead of their trademark rear engine layout that they’ve used on all of the 911’s. While the original Boxster was sporty, I don’t think very many people viewed it as a true sports car. Things got tricky as the Boxster became a sales success and Porsche began to improve its performance. The mid engine layout used in the Boxster and its sister car, the Cayman, is theoretically superior to the rear engine layout Porsche has gotten to work so well in the 911. Last year’s hardcore performance variants, the Boxster Spyder and the Cayman R, started to get dangerously close to outshining Porsche’s venerable 911. Some of the media reviewers even thought that Porsche purposely limited the performance on the Spyder and R with inferior spec tires so that they wouldn’t compete directly with the bread and butter 911.
Now there’s a new completely redesigned Boxster for 2012. Chris Harris attended the launch at the Route Napoleon on behalf of the DRIVE channel to review the new car. I’d say that this is one of his best reviews. First, he addresses the heritage and expectations of the new model. Then he talks about what he loves about the car and he’s realistic about the parts that bother him. Harris has an unparalleled ability to convey what a car is like to drive with his words and it really shows here. He concludes with a very interesting comparison between the new Boxster and the current 911 that may surprise you.
If you frequent this blog, I would hope that you can appreciate burnouts, wheelstands and drag racing. If that’s the case, then you liking this next video is a no brainer.
I’ve seen some very impressive 4WD Trail Rigs do some crazy things, but this is a little different. These guys are making it up the same treacherous hills in 2WD VW based Rail Buggies. The rear suspension of the VW Beetle lends itself well to offroad applications because the axle travels towards the rear of the car as the suspension compresses. That allows you to carry more speed over big bump obstacles. Combine that with having the weight of the engine over the drive wheels and you can see why Baja Bugs are so successful offroad. Take that formula one step further with a light and strong tube frame body and you have the monsters in this video. With big tires in the back where all the drive train weight is and skinny tires in the front, these cars are like the Nissan Deltawing of offroad hill climbing.